The GnATTERbox

For discussion of the issues faced when building a model or layout - how to replicate wood, what glues to use, exactly how much weathering can a Gnat take, a good source of detailing accessories - you get the picture, I'm sure.

Despite the interruptions of preparing for and going to Wimborne, and immediately afterwards going off on holiday in Madeira, some progress has been made ...

A start has been made in building up the ground around the track - more bits of foam board cut into odd shapes and glued down, then painted to look something like concrete - Stackers has concreted over most of the Stable Yard - Arfur Biscuit will be rotating rapidly in his grave ...

While I was away doing other things I applied what's left of my mind to projected operation of the diorama/photo plank/mini layout. At first I thought that a simple traverser, to move between the two exit tracks, and to store off-scene trains, would fit the bill. But that would mean that there would be travel in one direction pushing any rolling stock - not ideal, given my dodgy coupling arrangements.

In the back story I mentioned a line out to a balloon loop (and maybe to be realized in model form in years to come), which would mean the locos and whatever they were pulling would arrive back the other way round from how they left. So perhaps I need a turn-table instead ... or as well ...

So, a traversing turn-table, or a rotating traverser?? A travturble?? A Rotaverser?

On t'Bay I found this ...

... a 35cm bamboo wood Lazy Susan. I also found some drawer runners and, putting these together with some wood from the pile at the back of the garage, I cobbled together this...

Not a masterpiece of the joiner's art, but it does the job. It is still in development, of course, with a few matters to be sorted out - attachment to the Yard, power supply, control of movement fore and aft, and round and round ...

I got a leadscrew on Amazon and fixed it to the base to control the movement of the traverser part of the Rotaverser. The leadscrew is meant to be part of a 3D printer - so does this qualify me to post on 3D printing threads? The metal bracket attaching the traverser to the moving part of the leadscrew, and the handle for operating this strange device came out of the 'useful one day' store at the back of the garage ...

Track has been laid on the turning part of the Rotaverser, and seems to match up quite well with the scenic part of things. A little fine-tuning of rail levels is required to (hopefully) get a smooth transition from one component to the other. The radius that I ended up with for the two curved sections is less than the 12" I hoped for, but better than the 6" that I deployed on Berger Hall 1900. Also, there is no scenery close to the track to give clearance issues, so I hope everything will run acceptably (if not perfectly) ...

A little scenic work has been started at the front of the Stable Yard - stonework columns to (a) support the stone walling (yet to appear), and (b) support the balustrading along the edge of the upper Yard (also yet to appear) ...

I've arranged a simple system to attach the Rotaverser to the diorama/photo plank/layout ...

... 2 steel right-angle brackets fixed to the scenic bit ...

... and 2 Mega Magnets - rare-earth magnets about 12mm diameter - inset into the end of the Rotaverser.

The whole thing fits together neatly, so that the 2 sections can't move sideways in relation to each other, and are held tightly together ...

This last photo also shows that I've wired up the tracks on the Rotaverser to 2 sub-control panels. Power is tapped off the controller on the main board via a pair of plug-in flying leads, which are moved to the other side when the turn-table component is rotated through 180 degrees. Power is sent to the required track by the rotary switch.

The only thing to remember is that the black wire goes to the far rail, whichever way round the turn-table is. The first photo shows the R and almost erased B that I marked on the end of the scenic section to remind me which wire goes where ...

Rail heights have been fettled - some adjustment to the 'feet' of the 2 parts was required first to ensure that they are level and stable...

I bought a couple of dolls-house scale wooden balustrades from t'Bay ...

... much too big and bulky for what I wanted, but I cut out the uprights, shortened them slightly, made a base plate and a top rail from Woodlands Scenic plastic sections, and fashioned intermediate columns from 2 x 1.5 cm wooden strip and card ...

... and here they are after a spray of undercoat, just propped in place ...